Cost of ISO 27001:2022 Certification

The cost of ISO/IEC 27001 certification can make organizations reluctant to become certified. Although becoming ISO 27001 certified can be expensive, there are many factors that influence the price of the overall project, of which many are in your control. While there are costs associated with implementing ISO 27001 such as the cost of a registrar and internal resource costs, you should view certification as an investment in the organization’s growth.  Becoming ISO/IEC 27001 certified has many benefits for your organization.

The size and complexity of your organization will greatly influence the cost of implementation.  One possible way to help control the size is to limit the scope of the ISMS. While this should always be done for the benefit of the business’ intended outcomes, companies may be mindful that the scope directly impacts the cost of Certification.  For example, additional branches and locations require additional audit days, so the benefits of including branch offices should be carefully considered.

Despite the fact that size and complexity of the organization greatly impact the cost of certification, you have the choice on how you implement ISO 27001 into your organization, and this choice has the greatest influence on the cost. 27001Store.com believes you are better off creating the plan yourself, rather than increasing the cost of certification by hiring a consultant.  The end result will be the same for either option, but the cost varies greatly. The 27001Store.com approach of using templates will reduce your time and overall monetary investment, and increase your understanding of ISO/IEC 27001. We can help you implement your ISMS, as we have for thousands of others.

3 Different Approaches to ISO/IEC 27001 Certification:

1. Create everything on your own from scratch (Documentation, training, etc.) by reading and interpreting the standard.
• You know your business better than anyone, and you are in the best position to document your processes. But do you have the time to create hundreds of pages of documentation plus training?  
2. Use documentation templates and training programs (like ours) to document your ISMS and train your organization.
• You still do it yourself, but you don’t do it alone. We’re here to help.
• For a very small investment, you can train your organization and create a solid Information Security Management System (ISMS) very efficiently, saving you months of time and frustration.
3. Hire an ISO/IEC 27001 consultant to complete the entire process with you.
• If you are short on people and have the funds, this may be the most effective option.
• This is also the most expensive option (usually between $5,000 and $50,000). A consultant will typically create (and charge you for) many of the documents that are included as templates in our packages.
• You will also end up paying for the transfer of knowledge from your organization to the consultant so that he/she may put together the ISMS.

3 Costs of Certification:

1. Hiring a Registrar. An external registration audit is required, regardless of the method you choose for implementation. The registration audit is performed by a Registrar (also called a “Certification Body”), and the cost will depend on how large and how intricate your organization is. They will charge you by the day, depending on how much time they spend auditing your organization. There may also be travel costs if the Registrar is not local and there are administrative and accreditation fees as well. You can find a Registrar using our free service, which provides you three quotes from top registrars by filling out one form.
2. Internal Cost – This is the time your employees and management will need to spend building and implementing the system. 
3. Outside help – This includes consultant fees (if you hire a consultant), or the cost of purchasing tools to help you with the project, such as templates or documentation packages. You can save quite a bit of money and time by using a package instead of a consultant. 

Gap Analysis

If your organization already has a good portion of the ISO standard implemented, a gap analysis is ideal for you. Before an audit, using a gap analysis will allow you to identify any gaps within your system allowing you to focus on only areas that do not meet the standard. This will reduce the cost of ISO/IEC 27001 Certification.

Integrated Management Systems

If you are looking to implement multiple standards, it is actually cheaper to implement them together as an Integrated Management System. Implementing multiple standards together saves time and money. You will have a reduction in documentation, integrated audits and management reviews, as well as shared policies and procedures; therefore, you do not have to do everything multiple times.